Gal, Game-Based Assessments Expert at JobTestPrep.
Have a question? Contact me at: ask_the_team@jobtestprep.comWhat to Expect From the BCG Pymetrics Test
After submitting the online application, the first step in the consultant application process is the Pymetrics exam. During this session, you will have to play 12 games, each lasting between one and three minutes, totaling around 30 minutes.
Note: You have 48 hours to complete the BCG Pymetrics games once you receive the email invitation.
These neuroscience games assess candidates' personalities using a series of 91 social, cognitive, and behavioral traits. You are then matched with top-performing consultants already working at BCG.
You move on to the first round of interviews if your compatibility is found to be high enough.
What Does BCG Look for in Pymetrics?
Before we move on to several of the 12 BCG Pymetrics games, here's what BCG assesses with these games:
- how well do you do in problem-solving
- your methods for strategizing
- whether you are averse to risks
- basically how well you fit their culture.
Take a look at the BCG core values to get a sense of what kind of employees they are looking for:
- Integrity
- Respect for the Individual
- Diversity
- Clients come first
- The strategic perspective
- Value delivery
- Partnership and collaboration
- Expanding the art of the possible
- Social impact
If you read between the lines, you can understand they are looking for team players who plan their strategy before doing something, approach a problem creatively, and always seek to add value to their clients. Be sure to carry these values with you as you approach the games. While these values can be discerned in some of the BCG Pymetrics games, they are hidden in others.
For example, in the upcoming Tower Game, your Strategic perspective is being measured. Your ability to build a strategy is compared to that of other candidates and is taken into account when making a decision.
Tower Game
In this BCG Pymetrics game, you are presented with three towers of disks in different colors and an image of the target, which is how the disks are supposed to be arranged. Your job is to rearrange them so they fit the target. The only rule is that you can move one disk at a time and only one of the top disks.
There are numerous ways to approach this problem. The AI algorithm looks at how each candidate makes a decision—how long it takes them to strategize their moves, what path they choose to take, how many moves they make in total, and how many times they have gone back and forth with the same moves.
To evaluate the candidate, the algorithm compares each performance to the benchmark set by BCG's top performers and ranks each candidate in relation to other candidates. Every move counts, and every second is taken into account.
Solving Tip: As every move you make and the time between each move is being measured, start by taking a few seconds to assess the situation and mentally plan your strategy. This shows your ability to plan and strategize.
Using our preparation pack, practice the exact games you will encounter in your BCG hiring process. Improve your skills by implementing our tips and recommendations and practicing again and again for perfection.
Let’s take a look at a “simple” game from the test. It is so simple that it seems stupid to many candidates, but that’s just because they don’t understand it well enough.
Keypress Game
This BCG Pymetrics game can be explained in a sentence:
When you see the GO! message, press the spacebar repeatedly as quickly as possible until you are told to stop.
That’s it. Or is it?
In our BCG Pymetrics practice pack, you will have the chance to play for yourself. After you finish, you will get a personalized report, detailing the parameters that are being measured in this game.
In this game, for example, you are measured by how many times you pressed the spacebar before or after you were told to stop. Pressing the spacebar before and after you were told to do so implies that you are impulsive and that your process time is slow. Practicing process time and impulsivity avoidance is important if you wish to present the image of a good applicant.
Solving tip: High focus and regulating impulsivity are key here. Wait for the right moment and don't start before you see the screen change.
You can try practicing this game with a timer, but we recommend using software that will give you the proper metrics to track your progression. Our preparation pack will let you practice as much as you need with a metrics report each time.
To read more about it, visit our Pymetrics Games Page.
Money Exchange 1
The Money Exchange 1 relates to the value of Partnership and Collaboration by measuring trust.
The game is played once and goes as follows:
You are randomly paired with another participant, given $10 and the option to transfer any amount of the money to your partner.
The amount transferred will triple, and your partner will have the choice to transfer any amount of his money back to you.
You are asked to rate how fair your partner was in his transaction on a scale of 1 to 10.
Solving Tip: As work in BCG will require high collaboration and teamwork, you should present a caring and trusting attitude by giving more of your money to your partner. Having said that, make sure to do so in good taste and not going to the extreme.
The Arrow Game
The BCG Pymetrics Arrow Game relates to the value of Expanding the art of the possible by measuring your learning, attention, and adaptability traits.
In this BCG Pymetrics game, different sets of flashing arrows will appear on your screen. Your response to each set should follow the following two rules:
Blue or black arrows will require you to indicate the direction of the middle arrow.
Red arrows will require you to indicate the direction of the side arrows.
Solving tip: To minimize eye movement and cognitive resources, remain focused on the middle arrow and the one beside it. These will give you all the information you need to choose.
💡 This game consists of 135 rounds and lasts 3 minutes. This is a very long game, and you have to be ready to keep your focus for a long period of time.
Faces Games
This game includes images of people demonstrating different emotional expressions, some with additional text describing a situation. Your task is to choose the word best describing the person's expression.
You will have 7 seconds for expressions only and 30 seconds for expressions with text.
The Face Game measures emotional intelligence, one of the most appreciated traits in today's workspace. Accordingly, this game relates to the values of Diversity, Respect for the Individual, and Partnership.
Solving tip: While the expression in the image may seem clear to you, you must consider the text as well. The context in which it was made can help dramatically when differentiating similar emotional expressions and shows your ability to understand people's emotional positions.
Our preparation pack will help you understand how to relate to context and different facial features, assisting you in displaying the required emotional intelligence and excelling in the Faces Game.
What Happens After You Complete the BCG Pymetrics Test?
Once you complete the assessment, it is submitted to BCG, along with your online application.
BCG declared that no one will be disqualified solely based on their Pymetrics performance, but we know of many candidates that were not passed along after the games.
If you manage to hit the benchmark, then you start a few rounds of interviews. Each round includes two different types of interviews:
- Case study – in this type of interview, you will be presented with a real problem the BCG consultancy team is working on, and you will have to analyze it and explain how you would approach it. Expect to work through several case studies, a few in each round.
To read more about the case interviews, check out the BCG website, where they offer preparation material. - Fit – these are more behavioral interviews in nature that are used to determine your fit as a person to the firm. Candidates tend to put most of their effort in the case studies and overlook the fit interviews. In reality, both carry the same weight in your application process, so don’t neglect it.
After a few rounds of these two types of interviews, conducted by different levels of BCG personnel, you will hopefully get an offer.
In our Pymetrics Games preparation pack, you will learn how each game influences your score on each personality trait. Without proper practice and an understanding of how each game works, your chances of passing the test are quite slim.
Take a look at the BCG FAQs to better understand how they perceive it.
BCG Pymetrics FAQ
By understanding the hardships of each game, the traits and cognitive abilities they assess, and the values that can be related to them, you will score well. The best way to get there is with proper practice.
The BCG recruiters want to gauge how well you match other participants in 91 social, cognitive, and behavioral traits. This is used to figure out your fit to the BCG culture as a whole and to the position at hand.
